Fall River School Department meeting on Saturday to discuss Henry Lord's future

A special subcommittee appointed by Mayor Will Flanagan will take up the question of how to best use the now-vacant Henry Lord Middle School building when it meets at 9 a.m. Saturday at the school administration building on Rock Street. The subcommittee has been tasked with coming out of the meeting wi...

A special subcommittee appointed by Mayor Will Flanagan will take up the question of how to best use the now-vacant Henry Lord Middle School building when it meets at 9 a.m. Saturday at the school administration building on Rock Street.

The subcommittee has been tasked with coming out of the meeting with a list of recommendations.

There are several options the school department can pursue.

School committee Vice Chairman Mark Costa on Wednesday suggested extending the Resiliency Preparatory School program to the middle school grade levels, and he said Henry Lord could house such a program.

Subcommittee member Joseph Martins said other possibilities include opening the building as a “gifted and talented school” for middle school students or using it to expand pre-kindergarten programs in the city.

Martins suggested that the school department could elect to “return Henry Lord” to the building, with an outside management company hired to operate the school.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education “gave us alternatives,” said Martins, prior to the school committee’s vote to close Henry Lord last winter.

“They said, ‘Do nothing, and we will take over. You pay for it, but you lose all control. You can hire your own management company and you can keep control,’” Martins explained.

The subcommittee will be chaired by School Committee member Richard Pavao, and also includes School Committee member Gabe Andrade.

“I think the three of us are prepared to stay there as long as it takes to come up with concrete uses for the Henry Lord building,” Martins said.

When asked about the scheduling and timing of the Henry Lord uses subcommittee meeting, Martins said it was appropriate because he did not want to “drag out” the matter.

Fellow School Committee member Paul Hart, who was also a member of the Fall River Innovation Academy planning committee, disagreed and said the meeting should be rescheduled and held in a larger venue, such as the Henry Lord auditorium.

In an email sent out Thursday morning, Hart wrote, “It is an insult to the residents of our city to have a meeting, of such importance, on a Saturday morning at 9 a.m. I cannot believe any elected official could possibly schedule a meeting at this day and time ... . And have the meeting at Henry Lord so that residents, parents and children can attend and provide input as to the future of Henry Lord.”

Flanagan made the subcommittee’s appointments after the School Committee voted to reject the Fall River Innovation Academy proposal Tuesday night.

Martins is quick to note that the School Committee members who voted against the innovation academy “are not opposed to the early college high school concept."

"We highly endorse it," Martins said. "However, it belongs at Durfee. And there’s absolutely no reason why it can’t be at Durfee.”

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According to Hart, business leaders still want an early college high school in the city, even if they have to pursue it via the charter school route.